Detskiy Mir — Moscow

Translating, more or less, as “Children’s World”, Detskiy Mir was a retail feature of the pre-glasnost era. The name went underground somewhat in the new Russia until February this year, when it was relaunched in four remodelled stores around Moscow.

Averaging about 21,530 sq ft and designed by Fitch, the stores are, in effect, children’s supermarkets and while fingers may be pointed in the direction of Toys R Us, or perhaps more accurately Hamleys, when comparisons are made, it is the open quality of the space and the visual merchandising that sets this format apart.

In stores with a single-floor footprint of this size there is always the danger that shoppers will not be able to find what they are looking for, so ensuring that in-store navigation would be clear for adults and children was vital. This was achieved by using colour and zoning.

The in-store palette is based on Detskiy Mir’s brand identity and features four brightly coloured cubes turned at a 25-degree angle towards each other. The space was then divided between “rational” and “emotional” stock –clothing and Sales – with the emotional zones including “creative”, “reading” and “play” zones. Each area has also been allocated its own colour and other than mid-shop installations, equipment heights have been kept relatively low to help shoppers find their way.

Detskiy Mir is an unusual retailer in a country where the majority of commercial operations are regional. It operates its 128 stores across 67 cities, spread across the country and elements of the new look are set to appear in all of them.

By John Ryan www.retail-week.com